Thursday, February 21, 2019

Main Course Cabbage Soup

It has been my privilege to be on our church's
food committee for the past several years.
Sometime's it's a lot of work but there are always so many
wonderful folks who step up to the plate
to volunteer their time and talents in this department!

Today we served a luncheon to our local ESL
(English as a Second Language)
ladies and their preschool children
who meet weekly on Thursdays to learn English
and have some much needed time with their peers.



These dear ladies belong to local Old Colony Mennonite churches
and many have come directly from Mexico.
They speak Low German and are eager to learn English and other
skills such as computer work, self care, and all the things 
that come with living in such a different environment and location!








Peeking into the Nursery Class 
window where games are
played, stories are read,
and lots of fun is had by all,
while mom's are learning
English!








Teaching and Learning


Our food committee serves lunch to this program a few times a year.

Today our menu was Cabbage Soup, dinner rolls, cheese slices,
raw veggies and cupcakes. 
A simple but wholesome and delicious lunch.

The recipe we used was from our sister church's cookbook,
Family Favourites - Mapleview Mennonite Church,
 and was submitted by Idella Leis, a former well loved
pastor's wife at that church.

If you need a delicious hearty large pot of soup - try this one!


Main Course Cabbage Soup
(serves approx. 10 people)

1 lb. hamburger
1 medium onion – chopped
½ Cup Diced Celery
½ Cup Green Pepper
2 Tbsp. Oil
2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. sugar
¼ tsp. black pepper
½ tsp. paprika
1 28 oz. (796 mL) can of diced tomatoes
4 Cups hot water
2 cubes or sachets of Beef Bouillon
2 Cups Diced Potatoes
1 Cup Diced Carrots
3 Tbsp. chopped parsley
7 Cups coarsely chopped cabbage (packed)
Brown the beef, onion, celery and green pepper in oil until all redness is gone. Add all the ingredients except the cabbage. Cook for 1 hour.
Add the cabbage and cook for an additional hour.


Beautiful voices in prayer before the meal.

Kudos to Shirley Bauman and her team for organizing this worthwhile program!


How was your Family Day?
Ontario celebrated this day on Monday and we had some
fun sledding down the barn hill ...





Here is the link to the video
(Blogger doesn't seem to like videos so I've made a Youtube one too):


"There she goes"


Till next time ........ stay warm and healthy. Spring is on it's way, right!?



Saturday, February 9, 2019

Hola Guayabitos!

Hola from Rincon de Guayabitos, Mexico 2019




We made it back to this "laid back" Mexican Fishing Town
after 7 years!
It's changed a bit but thankfully not too much.
Here is a link to 7 years ago!

Staying at the DeCameron, Los Cocos all inclusive resort made for
a relaxed Winter Get-Away.
Walks on the beautiful beach, no cooking, reading, and eating
3 square meals a day - oye!

While there, we took a Casa Cooking class in Betty Nunez's cozy kitchen in La Penita, 
a town adjacent to Guayabitos.
She taught us and our travel mates how to make the most delicious enchiladas
served with authentic sauces of green tomatillos and red plum tomatoes.
She also made and shared a family recipe of Guacamole - what a treat!
Thanks Betty - you are amazing.

Here we are enjoying  a home-made Mexican dinner. 

Guacamole made in the traditional molcajete (mortar & pestle)


Each day our beds were made, our room was cleaned and there
was some "towel art" left on our bed!

How do the maids do this?

  





While hearing reports from home
of -20C's or more, we enjoyed +20C's here!
















Bedtime came early for us most nights but we stayed awake long enough to view the lunar eclipse on January 20th.
There was a surprising extreme high tide the next morning on our beach walk,
all due to the full moon eclipse?











We had early morning walks on the beach each day, where the fishermen
sold their daily catches,
enjoyed the buffet of foods at the resort and tried to get "our" same table
and waiter every meal.


Selfie lessons needed!!!



The Monday market shopping in the town square was so much fun.
Bought some great sun dresses (Mexican made by two sisters - TY Bikinis),
 and gifts to take home. The "TY" booth was always packed with women trying on dresses
as the men stood back in the shade.

Thankfully we had lots of suitcase space to take home our treasures.


La Penita also has a fabulous market on Thursdays and there we had a good feed
of fresh made churros (deep fried long donuts rolled in sugar - oh yum).
I need to learn how to make these!


This resort and area seems to attract mostly Canadians and lots from the Western Provinces.
We visited with some friends that we met here in 2012 who hail from Saskatoon area
and now rent a bungalow for 6 weeks in town. So great to see them again.
(I missed getting a picture of them - Ev and Leonard)

Many folks come year after year to this wonderful place.

Good times were had with our "old" friends forever from home!
Gary and Anita
Our meeting place! Let's do this again some year.


Till next time ....... Adios and stay warm!

Leaping into February!

  Just turned the calendar page for February and LOVE the caption for this LOVE month on the doorstep. ...  and, there were tulips at the gr...